The burden of depressive disorders in South Asia, 1990–2016: findings from the global burden of disease study

BACKGROUND: Globally, depressive disorders are one of the most common forms of mental illness. Using data from the most recent Global Burden of Disease, Injury, and Risk Factor Study 2016 (GBD 2016), we aimed to describe the burden of disease attributable to depressive disorders in terms of prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in South Asia countries (namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan). METHODS: GBD 2016 used epidemiological data on depressive disorders (major depression and dysthymia) from South Asia and a Bayesian meta-regression tool (DisMod-MR 2.1) to model prevalence and DALYs of depressive disorders by age, sex, country and year. DALYs were calculated from the years lived with disability (YLDs), derived from the prevalence of depressive disorders and disability weights, obtained from a community and internet-based surveys. The analyses adjusted for comorbidity, data sources and multiple modelling, and estimates were presented with 95% uncertainty intervals (UI). RESULTS: In 2016, the age-standardised prevalence of depressive disorders in South Asia was 3.9% (95% UI: 3.6–4.2%), 4.4% (95% UI: 4.4–4.8%) in Bangladesh, 3.9% (95% UI: 3.6–4.2%) in India, 3.0% (95% UI: 2.8–3.3%) in Pakistan, 4.0% (95% UI: 3.7–4.3%) in Nepal and 3.7% (95% UI: 3.4–4.1%) in Bhutan. In South Asia, depressive disorders accounted for 9.8 million DALYs (95% UI: 6.8–13.2 million) or 577.8 (95% UI: 399.9–778.9) per 100,000 population in 2016. Of these, major depressive disorders (MDD) accounted for 7.8 million DALYs (95% UI: 5.3–10.5 million). India generated the largest numbers of DALYs due to depressive disorders and MDD, followed by Bangladesh and Pakistan. DALYs due to depressive disorders were highest in females and older adults (75–79 years) across all countries. CONCLUSION: Our findings show the substantial public health burden of depressive disorders in South Asian populations and healthcare systems. Given the scale of depressive disorders, improvement in overall population health is possible if South Asian countries prioritise the prevention and treatment of depressive disorders. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12888-018-1918-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.